Protests follow fatal shooting of Wisconsin man by police officer

A 19-year-old Wisconsin man was shot and killed Friday by a police officer during a scuffle in an apartment in Madison, police said. The shooting prompted protests that continued Saturday and led officials to call for restraint while the shooting is investigated.

The shooting occurred Friday evening after police received calls about a man who had committed battery and was jumping in and out of traffic, Police Chief Michael Koval said. A police officer followed the man to an apartment and forced his way in after hearing a disturbance inside, the chief said. The man then assaulted the officer, who shot him, Koval said.

Officials did not immediately release the man’s name, but friends and relatives identified him as Anthony Robinson, an African-American who graduated from high school last year.

“My son has never been a violent person,” Andrea Irwin, who identified herself as Robinson’s mother, told WKOW-TV. “And to die in such a violent, violent way, it baffles me.”

On Friday, Koval described the scuffle between the officer and the man as “mutual combat” and said the officer had been treated at a hospital for injuries suffered in the altercation, during which he was struck in the head and knocked down. At a news conference Saturday, the chief said the slain man had been unarmed.

Koval identified the officer as Matthew Kenny, 45, a 12-year veteran. He was placed on paid administrative leave while an investigation takes place.

Kenny was involved in a fatal shooting in 2007 that Koval described as “suicide by cop.” In that incident, Kenny shot and killed Ronald Brandon, 48, after Brandon pointed what turned out to be a pellet gun at police officers, the chief said. The district attorney ruled the shooting as justified.

On Friday night, protesters gathered at the scene around a police blockade, drumming and chanting, “Black lives matter.” On Saturday, people gathered for a rally downtown.